“The kingdom of heaven is like to an householder, who went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And having agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing in the market place idle. And he said to them: ‘Go you also into my vineyard, and I will give you what shall be just.’ And they went their way. And again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did in like manner. But about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and he saith to them: ‘Why stand you here all the day idle?’ They say to him: ‘Because no man hath hired us.’ He saith to them: ‘Go you also into my vineyard.’”
Jesus is the householder, who looks over His house, the heavens and the earth, and His family, which are all the things that are created. He hires laborers to go into the vineyard of love, which contains the vines of righteousness, and to love your neighbor is to work therein: “For all the law is fulfilled in one word: ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’” (Galatians 5:14). To work in the vineyard is to labor for the sake of the vineyard and receive the pay for one’s food, and so too are you called to work firstly to make God loved on earth, and then address the things necessary for yourself: “Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). The zealous worker shows to the Master the fruits of his work with joy: “She found about the measure of an ephi of barley, that is, three bushels: which she took up and returned into the city, and shewed it to her mother in law” (Ruth 2:17-18), whereas the one that has been lax is ashamed to go in for lunch when there has been nothing put forward in the vineyard: “If thou be diligent, thy harvest shall come as a fountain, and want shall flee far from thee” (Proverbs 6:11). Love is give and take, and love calls you into action, with your Beloved being grateful for the work you do. To laze about and do nothing invites correction rather than affection: “If any man will not work, neither let him eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10); to halfheartedly obey when love’s voice sends you into your labor is ugly work in the vineyard of love, but to joyfully plant flowers of love in all you do brightens the face of Christ, who loves to see you happy and in love: “The joyfulness of the heart, is the life of a man, and a never failing treasure of holiness: and the joy of a man is length of life” (Ecclesiasticus 30:23). The vineyard can also represent the Church, which is always in need of great saints to arise and tend her sails through prayer, man her oars by teaching and service, and steer her ship by guidance and leadership: “They that go down to the sea in ships, doing business in the great waters: these have seen the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep” (Psalm 106:23-24). Now, the day mentioned is the day of one’s life, which seems long within it as a workday does, but is a day in comparison with God’s existence and eternal rest: “One day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8), with the reward for all who truly love in life being salvation. There can be two looks at the hours of the day at which the workers are sent, because in one regard it can represent the ages of the world, in another it can be the season of life in which respective people come to know the love of Jesus and are inspired by this love to enter into their own respective love stories with Him: “Behold my beloved speaketh to me: ‘Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my beautiful one, and come” (Canticle 2:10). This second interpretation is then easily understood by the marketplace being the world, exchanging goods that are not the true good of divine love, and to stand in the ways of the world is to waste the time given to you: “See therefore, brethren, how you walk circumspectly: not as unwise, but as wise: redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16). Or, to be in the marketplace is to be within the walls of the Church, but not fully invigorated with love, and therefore idling, one’s heart waiting to be sent. The third, sixth, and ninth hours can also refer to the ages of the Law, the kings, and the prophets, with those that served the Lord with right faith laboring in the vineyard. In the eleventh hour, the coming of the Lord in the flesh, proper faith is given to the Gentiles that they may know the one true God in true faith: “Now this is eternal life: That they may know thee, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3), and live a life pleasing to Him: “If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; as I also have kept my Father’s commandments, and do abide in his love” (John 15:10). Now, to love is to avoid purgatory, though a plenary indulgence to soothe your soul from any anxiety is a wonderful thing, and so no matter the time when you fall in love with God, let love carry you to the end, and you will enter eternal beatitude triumphantly, shining as a victorious knight come to their King, Queen, and family to tell the stories of the battlefield: “Now when David returned, after he slew the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with timbrels of joy, and cornets” (1 Kings 18:6).